This was an absolutely wild ride, and I feel like I need to take some deep breaths just to calm down after all that.
There will be spoilers, so if that doesn't bother you, take a look down below!
Mainly, I'm amazed by the level of humanization that this gives to each of its characters. Rue, far from being a self-insert, has a strong personality—full of prejudices, weaknesses, and trauma that he's carrying. Perry, despite being a typically unstable yandere, also has a real soul inside of her, and she wounds and is wounded by Perry during their interactions in a way you can really feel. Akuji is so likeable, and her romance with Rue so cute and believable, that I was heartbroken when I learned that she had died so tragically.
Not only do you feel their character, but the game also fits a remarkable amount of character growth into its short runtime. More than anything, I think ending Letting Go (A) exemplifies this; every character we know manages to give up what was once their driving motive, in a way that doesn't feel forced, and carries some serious bittersweet punch. I'd also say that Letting Go (A) is my favorite ending; it felt as "happy" as you can get in a story so unrelentingly grim. Having Perry force the player to choose again (and her reaction if you kill her a second time) also felt like a rightful slap across the face. (I was only trying to get all the endings, Perry, you don't understand!)
More than any other VN I've played, this story rewards multiple playthroughs—so much of the story I though I understood on the first go-through gets upended by the twist of Perry being imaginary, and then the reverse-twist of Akuji being imaginary. More than anything, though, I found that seeing Perry's POV completely changed my perspective on the story. Although it's hard to ever call a yandere sympathetic, you can feel that she truly does care about Rue, in her own twisted way. Perry's POV also cut through some of the masterfully-written tension that lingered in my playthroughs as Rue, where I was never truly sure of Perry's meaning or intentions.
In short, I hope that Rue managed to free himself of his demons—both Perry and Akuji. Most of all, I hope he finally wrote that novel; lord knows he's been through enough to fill a few books.
Thank you for this game. I have no doubt that it'll stick with me for a long time to come.
Firstly, I have to say thank you so much for taking the time to play through the game and then come and write up such a thoughtful comment/review :3 It really means a lot that you chose to check this out and finish it because, of all my projects, this one is the least downloaded. I know it’s pretty bleak, so maybe that puts people off, haha, but it doesn’t even have many views either, which means people are completely passing it up without even taking a look at the page and I don’t really know why because I feel like it’s probably one of my better games >.< Better than some of my others that have received far more interest anyway, haha.
Your comment might mean the difference between someone closing the page or downloading it to play themselves though, so I really appreciate that you wrote what you did!
As a person with extremely low levels of self-confidence, it can often be difficult to know whether or not I’ve managed to achieve what I hoped to when I write and create these games, and I can’t lie, the general lack of interest and interaction with this project and its alternative otome version did leave me wondering if I’d made an awful job of it or something, haha. While I’m personally pleased with how it turned out, it’s nice to get some form of outside validation to help combat the self-doubt I often find myself swamped by.
I’m really glad that you enjoyed it overall, and that the multiple playthrough mechanic paid off in a satisfying way :3 It was something I’d wanted to include in a project for a long time, but never really had the opportunity to with a lot of my stuff being made under strict deadlines for game jams. Since this was also for a jam (albeit a longer 2-month one), I did worry it wouldn’t be possible to pull it off effectively in the time I had. I was concerned it might be more tedious than rewarding, so it’s fantastic to hear that you felt it built on the first playthrough having that different POV to experience.
I’m also relieved to hear that you felt Perry’s POV made her somewhat more sympathetic because that was my hope when I started writing it. By the end though, I wasn’t sure if perhaps I’d accidentally made her come across as more monstrous >.< So it means a lot to know that you felt it came across as her truly caring for Rue because I would never want any of my characters, especially my yanderes, to be portrayed as absolute villains or irredeemable monsters. One of the big reasons I got into game dev in the first place was to try my best to create different kinds of yandere characters that could be seen as more human than they’re often portrayed. Don’t get me wrong, I love me a good psycho character, but more than that, I always find myself wanting to know why they are the way they are, and that’s something that often went unanswered in the games I was playing and stories I was reading.
Thank YOU for your time and your wonderful words. They mean the world to me :3
SPOILERS!!! These are my random opinions as I play.
My first ending was the oblivious ending.
At first I thought that Perry might be a metaphor for alcohol because her name was similar to a well known whisky brand and her presence was always accompanied with alcohol. Then I got the other ending. So Akuji turns to be the imaginary girlfriend! I felt sorry for Perry to die.
From the very beginning I felt suspicious about Perry. But I gave her the benefit of the doubt. It felt like she was making up lies as they first talked. Specially the part about knowing the author of the books. She kept giving him alcohol even though he kept getting worse and worse. And as I unlocked more and more scenes, I realized that she was manipulating him. Trying to isolate him.
After unlocking 6 endings, I decided to check Perry's POV.
Well, clearly she's a manipulative person.
My first real Perry's ending was After life (B). I did 2 of the quick and easy endings first just to get over with them.
I don't know what to say. I prefer the ending in which Rue let's go of his deceased girlfriend and also asks Perry to leave.
I don't like none of the two main character but I'll rather want Rue to heal and move on, without the influence of Perry over him.
PS:
On the other hand, by based on a script of Inside 9, you mean an unreleased script or an episode? Either way, nice job!
I also realized the GxB is probably more popular. Is there any difference other than the obvious ones?
I also found the vocal song, it's hard to understand the lyrics, but it's cool!
Thanks so much for playing this one too :3 It's one of my least downloaded games of all! The otome version has a few more than this version, but not many >.<
SPOILERS
That's interesting about the name Perry :o I had no idea it was the name of a whisky brand x3 I was just looking for a more feminine name of her male counterpart in the otome version (Doyle) that held a similar sort of meaning or meaning related to the character. I don't always do it, but quite often when naming characters, I look up names that mean X trait, haha. When I searched, it told me that Doyle meant dark stranger, and Perry meant traveller or pilgrim, so I figured they'd both be suitable :3 And Akuji I kept for both versions of the game cos I really like the sound of the name! It apparently means dead and awake... Sooo, yeah, don't Google the meanings of some of my character names because sometimes they might have spoilers just in their names xD
I have to agree that I also prefer the ending where Rue let's go of Akuji and also asks Perry to leave cos I feel like that's the healthiest option for Rue going forward! It's a pretty dark and depressing story really, haha. But then it's supposed to be more psychological horror than romance, and just bleak in general x3
By based on an Inside No.9 script, I mean that it's actually based off of the script for an episode of the anthology TV show called Inside No.9 :3 It's one of those funky shows where every episode is a totally different 30 minute story with a twist of some sort, and one of my favourite TV series. I thought it would be a really fun script to play with because you can change quite a lot without taking away from the original story.
For example, the original script has zero romance. The main character is a dude called Tom, Akuji is his girlfriend (but named Gerri), and Perry is a man called Migg. There's a little bit of friendship building between the main character and Migg, but no romance. I included the script/episode's original ending within the game, but overall, I tweaked a lot of the sorry, added romance, and of course, added Perry's POV and a whole bunch of different branches and endings :3
It's not the only time I've played around with an Inside No.9 episode script. The most elaborate one for it is Limbo Line because I changed and added a hell of a lot while still keeping the original story intact. And Then The Graveyard Shift is the opposite, where I only included a few little tweaks, branches, and alternate endings. Depending on where you are in the world, you might even be able to watch the episodes online for free if you ever wanted to see all the differences, haha. Apartment No.9's episode = Tom and Gerri. Limbo Line's episode = Cold Comfort. And The Graveyard Shift's episode = The Stakeout.
The GxB version is only marginally more popular than this version, like I said earlier, sadly, they're both some of my least viewed/downloaded games >.< But story-wise, there aren't any differences that I can remember :3 The biggest differences are that the GxB version has a much larger CG gallery since it was made for otome jam and more art was created for it. Whereas the BxG version was made outside of a jam. If it hadn't been for my good friend, Lazy Polar Bear, offering to draw up new sprites for this version and that 1 important CG, I probably wouldn't have been able to make this version at all cos I didn't really have suitable sprites for it in my collection of assets, and without that 1 CG, I feel like that scene would really lack impact >.<
That's so cool that you like the vocal song ^-^ it was quite rushed in the end >.< haha, and I was torn on whether to even include it or not since it features my vocals, and I don't really like the sound of my singing x3 Unfortunately, my microphone isn't the best, and I'm also really anxious about my family hearing me record stuff, so anything I do record is usually super quiet >.<
Anyways, thank you so much for taking the time to check this one out as well and write up your thoughts! I really appreciate it ^-^
Thanks for playing ^-^ I love anime too, but I'm soooo behind on all the stuff I was watching >.< my anime backlog is as bad as my gaming backlog at this point! Both are just huge, haha.
Holy moly, that came in a lot of parts :o Tbh, I never timed a playthrough when I was testing and trying to pick up text errors and stuff, so I never realised the length of it xD
Thanks so much for playing this one too, and I hope you got to have a wonderful holiday season + that your new year is going great so far ^-^
Omg okay so I played this game a while ago, some months actually, and I just happened to come on this game's page because I love your work and am about to play Yandere Haven. I realized you left this comment below "I think the BxG version might be my least downloaded game of all >.<" and I had to respond! I have a bad habit of leaving long reviews lmfao, so I shy away from reviewing because I end up spending hours typing. (I'm a video editor so I try to leave more in depth appreciation for fellow artists >.< It's nice when people notice the minute details and effort you put in to your work.) I had to leave at least SOMETHING for you after reading that.
This is my FAVORITE work by you from what I've played so far. Definitely do nottt think that downloads or anything determines value, it's clear you don't think that completely but yeah honestly I think it just comes down to marketing. Also, at the end of the day, when it comes to VNs, flowery otomes with Japanese-level art will always get the most attention. I do love me some happy-go-lucky otomes; I am like everyone else in that I do spend more time playing the romance otomes, but this definitely was a great game. I love psychological stuff like this just as much, if not more, than romance otomes. (Hell, go darker if you want xD Give me all the angst and effed up characters). Bonus if it's a game like this that contains both some romance and psychological ish. This was one of my top 3 trippy/psychological VNs that I ever played and I've played hundreds of VNs over a span of a decade. You set up the suspense and mystery so well, I remember playing this while pulling an all-nighter because I couldn't stop playing. This was such an amazing game and you put a lot of work into it clearly. Not sure why I see comments criticizing the art but I love the art a lot--yes art is subjective but even objectively, the characters were well-proportioned and consistent throughout. I love the voice acting, love the visual effects/coding, and I love the story you crafted. I've played games of a similar nature that were somewhat confusing or contained plot holes. This was a very concise, well-polished story and, while I haven't played in a while so my memory is fuzzy, I remember that I enjoyed this game extremely and have been keeping an eye out for your work since.
I sincerely hope that you/your team continues to make work, I seriously love stuff like this. I tell every game dev that I compliment that I'm picky with what I like, which sounds paradoxical given the fact that I say it every time, but it's completely true lol! I can't get into a story if it's not crafted well. It's not easy to make such a concise story, and with such a good pay-off at that.
Continue to make the work you're passionate about, even if it doesn't do numbers like the Japanese-style otomes do. Everyone is making games like that, their works are nice to but this is YOUR unique vision. It'd be so boring and oversaturated if only games like that existed. Your art and vision is so important and I cannot stress enough how much I appreciate the work you put in. I actually especially appreciate it because of the whole focus on both suspense and yandere characters. I love internalizing different characters (to the point where I've made my own yandere character), and I love seeing how people internalize and portray these sorts of crazy characters in their art. I love psycho-analyzing them lol. And I love the suspense in this game, the kind that sends shivers down your spine and yet you obsessively can't stop reading. So people like you who create this work are very appreciated.
Despite being long lol, I know this wasn't an in-depth art review. I could go into depth of how dope and clever it is that you used the game's coding itself to plot your story (by that, I mean the fact that the game changes and narrative evolves as you replay it), and how amazing and unique it is to craft a (plot-hole free) narrative around such a mechanism in the first place (trippy too!), but I would be here all day. I don't want to make this review any longer but I just wanted you to know that even if this isn't your most downloaded game, it is VERY appreciated. YOU are appreciated and valued. Your work is appreciated and valued. Please keep doing what you do!
So sorry this is so long xD See omfg I try to make brief reviews and here I am I think like half an hour later...I'm sorry for the rambling on, I feel bad every time but I can't stop myself. But I just needed you to know you're appreciated!
Sorry it's taken an entire month to respond to all the lovely things you said >.< I was just away from my PC and all my project stuff for all of June while I focused on the 30 Days Wild challenge. I did read everything you wrote when I got a chance though, I just wasn't able to actually sit down and say anything back until now x3
I hope you ended up having fun with Yandere Heaven too in the end :D And not much has changed since then because this game still has the lowest number of downloads by far xD I just checked the analytics and it's on 440 total downloads! The next lowest is the ELI version of Love in Lockdown at 1743 total downloads. Yandere Heaven is somehow my most downloaded project at 15.9k total downloads despite being my most recently released game O.O I dunno how that has happened, haha. And poor Limbo Line, which I personally feel is my best project so far is only on 2510 total.
I really appreciate the fact that you took the time to write such a meaty review of this one anyhow :D It means a lot, especially so when it seems to be my most unloved release, haha.
And heck yes, it's great when other people notice the small details and stuff in a project! I tend to spend probably too much time obsessing over tiny details, but they make me happy, so meh x3
I hope this one managed to stay your favourite after you checked out YH, haha. As much fun as I had making YH, I put a hell of a lot more time and effort into A9. To the point that by the end of the jam, I felt like I bloomin lived in that damn apartment with everyone xD
Psychological stuff is very much my jam, haha. I used to play a lot of the romance otomes myself, but over time, I started to feel like they were becoming a bit hollow to me. Same sorts of stories, same sorts of characters, same sorts of romance >.< And I just wound up a bit disillusioned with them. It's annoying because I love me some cute romance in the middle of a story, but I do prefer it to be somewhere in between what a lot of otome games offer and what you get in something like Mass Effect. With Bioware games, I'm always left wanting a little more romance than you get, but with otomes, I end up wanting a little less romance and a bit more attention to overall story x3 I probably sound so picky T_T haha.
I feel honoured that you'd give such high praise! I mean, I can't take 100% credit for the story idea since it was heavily inspired stuff, but I tried my best to do the original idea justice while adding plenty of my own original ideas and such in there to create something else.
I'm glad you like the art as well. This version of the game wouldn't have even been possible without the help of my good friend who created the art for it because I didn't have any assets that would work. I'm a huuuuge fan of her art style :3 She puts so much emotion and small details into her drawings. I still can't belive the sheer level of incredible art she managed to creat for Limbo Line, and again, that project wouldn't have been possible if not for her, so I owe her a lot :3
That's a relief to hear that you didn't come across any plot holes because that's something which is always in the back of my mind, haha. While I do write a very rough sort of outline for most of my stuff, 75% of the finished script comes from pantsing xD Which I feel always leaves it all rather vulnerable to plot holes! I do my best to try and fix anything I find, but sometimes it's easy to miss stuff when you're looking at the same text for so long >.<
I've always had a soft spot for the more messed-up sorts of characters that you come across both in fiction and in reality. Though, in reality, it's more of a morbid curiosity I guess. When I was a kid, my parents got me a book on serial killers as a birthday present cos they knew how much I loved watching documentaries on them xD And I remember watching Disney films as a child and always being fascinated by the villains, wanting to know more about why they wound up the way they did and stuff. So yeah, it's a lot of fun to create and explore characters that have a darker side :3 I'm so glad I came across visual novels, because before then, I didn't even know what a yandere was. They quickly became my favourite sort of character type alongside yangires, haha.
I remember playing a game a few years ago where the story changed upon replaying it, and it absolutely blew my mind x3 so I thought to myself, I've really gotta try my hand at that sometime! It was a bit of a nightmare to execute when my coding skills are practically nonexistent. Though, I finally know now how to fix the title screen for accessing different menu options and such, I just haven't updated the game with a fix because it would take so long to export and upload it again for something so small >.< I'm really hoping it's something I can implement in some of my other projects too, because as you say, it's pretty trippy, and it's something that makes me smile whenever I come across it as a player.
Please don't apologise anyhow x3 Like I said, I really appreciate the fact that you took the time to write everything that you did :3 As nice as it is to make the sorts of things you enjoy making and see them come to life, it's equally nice, if not more so, to get any sort of feedback from folks who have taken the time to play through something I've put out there. Reading what you wrote made me smile. It really does mean a lot ^-^ So yeah, thanks again for everything!
Don't let the fact that the thumbnail looks worse than Darling Duality, and the art is in game is a little bit worse, the game has a pretty good story and the love interests are both very cute, interesting and well written, the homeless girl concept might sound bad to some but it wasn't bad imo, things will all make sense after you play the game, everyone except MC is voiced, the game is also kinda horny in some scenes, you should give it a try.
Glad you decided to give it a chance :3 And even more awesome that you ended up enjoying it. Sadly, it's my joint least downloaded game (think it only had around 300 downloads last time I checked) >.< Probably doesn't help that I released it as part of sunofes jam, which isn't really a jam people keep an eye on for new projects as far as I'm aware since it's more about just finishing stuff you've started.
It wouldn't have been possible without the help of my good friend who created all the awesome art for the game (sprites and CG) because the original otome version of the game also had custom sprites and CGs for otome jam that I couldn't possibly have genderbent with my own awful art skills >.< So I owe her a lot for being so awesome and helping me out :3
I’ve Started the No.9 Vn and……I can’t even find the words for how mind fucking is it so far,the endings I’ve gotten so far was the three good ones*Well I guess if the one where you cheat and be nice to P counts as a happy ending,Because me it does because she was nice & caring in my eyes,But ik it’s wrong to cheat on Your Girl but hey, sacrifices must be made sometimes*(Ik I’m horrible )& that one bad apple ending with Poor P ;(
The sound effects of how Perry was out infront of the door was crispy asf,The Clicking Of Footsteps going down the stairs was perfect as well,The Kissing felt to real like I was getting smooches though my headset,Just pretty much every damn thing was just simulating like I was actually there.(Which made it even more exciting to play)
The Bloopers Of Perry Had My Chest Bleeding inside from the Constant laughing,That Damn motorcycle I tell Ya,Aku Giggling over the kissing sounds was adorable tbhs😂,Fleur Had a lil tongue twister which was funny to hear”Now If the other vn’s that you’ll be working soon get bloopers as well than that would be so damn good tbhs,just to hear them fuck up, laugh about and have a great time about it at the end of their day
It even has interviews,Well 2 out of the 4,F interview At the beginning had me rolling tho,she can definitely act the part as well as the other va’s ofc,I’m not gonna pick a favorite,they’re all really amazing to me ofc,The team that you have/had for this vn especially did a damn fine job with everything within this vn,well not just this one,as well as the other two that I’ve mentioned before,It’s to a point that I can’t even pick which one I like the most because it’s the same feeling for all three of them by far,might become a 4 whenever I finish No.9 and Start Limbo but i could keep going on and on about how much I’ve enjoyed No.9 So Far but I gotta go see the rest of the endings now. Ciao ^ ͜• ^
Hehe, that was my favourite ending to write and put together :P Congrats on all the endings :D And thanks so much for playing it all the way through and taking the time to drop a comment :3
Woooo! Awesome stuff :3 I think the BxG version might be my least downloaded game of all >.< I try not to check analytics on itch too often cos it's just like kinda setting yourself up for disappointment when you look and see you released something you're super proud of but hardly anyone plays it, haha. I think last time I did look though, it was under 300 downloads! So I appreciate you giving it some love :D
Psychological stuff is my absolute favourite genre when it comes to books, games, films, anything really x3 so hearing you describe it as mind fucking makes me want to punch the air with victory cos I always wonder if the psychological stuff I try to write actually works, haha.
I'm also a huuuuge nerd for sound design, so I have a hell of a lot of fun trying to bring scenes to life with detailed sounds ^-^ When I first discovered how to make characters sound like they were behind a wall/door, or on the phone, I basically got so excited I lost my shit xD
I do love me some bloopers as well, haha. Ever since I started making games, I've always asked the Vas to save their bloopers if they don't mind me putting them in a blooper reel :D Hearing that sorta thing always makes me laugh out loud when I'm in the middle of editing their audio. From what I remember, Jacob had some epic bloopers in Solipsism Reigns playing villains. Some of the stuff he came out with used to make me cry with tears of laughter x3 but if it's female yanderes you're into, you probably wouldn't wanna play through SR just for bloopers cos I only have the otome version out so far >.< I'll get the BxG version done someday, it's just it's much longer than my other games, so it's something that's gonna take a hell of a lot of time to do.
Yeah, I'm super lucky to have had the opportunity to work with such amazing people on the project ^-^ I wouldn't have been able to do it at all if LPB hadn't offered to help me out with sprites and Cgs, and it definitely wouldn't be the same without the voice acting.
I'm just super happy you've been having fun cos I had an absolute blast making it the same as I did with all my projects (well, apart from Love in Lockdown which I still hate to this day xD) and it's just nice to know when someone else has had as much fun playing as I had making ^-^
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This was an absolutely wild ride, and I feel like I need to take some deep breaths just to calm down after all that.
There will be spoilers, so if that doesn't bother you, take a look down below!
Mainly, I'm amazed by the level of humanization that this gives to each of its characters. Rue, far from being a self-insert, has a strong personality—full of prejudices, weaknesses, and trauma that he's carrying. Perry, despite being a typically unstable yandere, also has a real soul inside of her, and she wounds and is wounded by Perry during their interactions in a way you can really feel. Akuji is so likeable, and her romance with Rue so cute and believable, that I was heartbroken when I learned that she had died so tragically.
Not only do you feel their character, but the game also fits a remarkable amount of character growth into its short runtime. More than anything, I think ending Letting Go (A) exemplifies this; every character we know manages to give up what was once their driving motive, in a way that doesn't feel forced, and carries some serious bittersweet punch. I'd also say that Letting Go (A) is my favorite ending; it felt as "happy" as you can get in a story so unrelentingly grim. Having Perry force the player to choose again (and her reaction if you kill her a second time) also felt like a rightful slap across the face. (I was only trying to get all the endings, Perry, you don't understand!)
More than any other VN I've played, this story rewards multiple playthroughs—so much of the story I though I understood on the first go-through gets upended by the twist of Perry being imaginary, and then the reverse-twist of Akuji being imaginary. More than anything, though, I found that seeing Perry's POV completely changed my perspective on the story. Although it's hard to ever call a yandere sympathetic, you can feel that she truly does care about Rue, in her own twisted way. Perry's POV also cut through some of the masterfully-written tension that lingered in my playthroughs as Rue, where I was never truly sure of Perry's meaning or intentions.
In short, I hope that Rue managed to free himself of his demons—both Perry and Akuji. Most of all, I hope he finally wrote that novel; lord knows he's been through enough to fill a few books.
Thank you for this game. I have no doubt that it'll stick with me for a long time to come.
Firstly, I have to say thank you so much for taking the time to play through the game and then come and write up such a thoughtful comment/review :3 It really means a lot that you chose to check this out and finish it because, of all my projects, this one is the least downloaded. I know it’s pretty bleak, so maybe that puts people off, haha, but it doesn’t even have many views either, which means people are completely passing it up without even taking a look at the page and I don’t really know why because I feel like it’s probably one of my better games >.< Better than some of my others that have received far more interest anyway, haha.
Your comment might mean the difference between someone closing the page or downloading it to play themselves though, so I really appreciate that you wrote what you did!
As a person with extremely low levels of self-confidence, it can often be difficult to know whether or not I’ve managed to achieve what I hoped to when I write and create these games, and I can’t lie, the general lack of interest and interaction with this project and its alternative otome version did leave me wondering if I’d made an awful job of it or something, haha. While I’m personally pleased with how it turned out, it’s nice to get some form of outside validation to help combat the self-doubt I often find myself swamped by.
I’m really glad that you enjoyed it overall, and that the multiple playthrough mechanic paid off in a satisfying way :3 It was something I’d wanted to include in a project for a long time, but never really had the opportunity to with a lot of my stuff being made under strict deadlines for game jams. Since this was also for a jam (albeit a longer 2-month one), I did worry it wouldn’t be possible to pull it off effectively in the time I had. I was concerned it might be more tedious than rewarding, so it’s fantastic to hear that you felt it built on the first playthrough having that different POV to experience.
I’m also relieved to hear that you felt Perry’s POV made her somewhat more sympathetic because that was my hope when I started writing it. By the end though, I wasn’t sure if perhaps I’d accidentally made her come across as more monstrous >.< So it means a lot to know that you felt it came across as her truly caring for Rue because I would never want any of my characters, especially my yanderes, to be portrayed as absolute villains or irredeemable monsters. One of the big reasons I got into game dev in the first place was to try my best to create different kinds of yandere characters that could be seen as more human than they’re often portrayed. Don’t get me wrong, I love me a good psycho character, but more than that, I always find myself wanting to know why they are the way they are, and that’s something that often went unanswered in the games I was playing and stories I was reading.
Thank YOU for your time and your wonderful words. They mean the world to me :3
SPOILERS!!!
SPOILERS!!!
These are my random opinions as I play.
My first ending was the oblivious ending.
At first I thought that Perry might be a metaphor for alcohol because her name was similar to a well known whisky brand and her presence was always accompanied with alcohol. Then I got the other ending. So Akuji turns to be the imaginary girlfriend! I felt sorry for Perry to die.
From the very beginning I felt suspicious about Perry. But I gave her the benefit of the doubt. It felt like she was making up lies as they first talked. Specially the part about knowing the author of the books. She kept giving him alcohol even though he kept getting worse and worse. And as I unlocked more and more scenes, I realized that she was manipulating him. Trying to isolate him.
After unlocking 6 endings, I decided to check Perry's POV.
Well, clearly she's a manipulative person.
My first real Perry's ending was After life (B). I did 2 of the quick and easy endings first just to get over with them.
I don't know what to say. I prefer the ending in which Rue let's go of his deceased girlfriend and also asks Perry to leave.
I don't like none of the two main character but I'll rather want Rue to heal and move on, without the influence of Perry over him.
PS:
On the other hand, by based on a script of Inside 9, you mean an unreleased script or an episode? Either way, nice job!
I also realized the GxB is probably more popular. Is there any difference other than the obvious ones?
I also found the vocal song, it's hard to understand the lyrics, but it's cool!
Thanks so much for playing this one too :3 It's one of my least downloaded games of all! The otome version has a few more than this version, but not many >.<
SPOILERS
That's interesting about the name Perry :o I had no idea it was the name of a whisky brand x3 I was just looking for a more feminine name of her male counterpart in the otome version (Doyle) that held a similar sort of meaning or meaning related to the character. I don't always do it, but quite often when naming characters, I look up names that mean X trait, haha. When I searched, it told me that Doyle meant dark stranger, and Perry meant traveller or pilgrim, so I figured they'd both be suitable :3 And Akuji I kept for both versions of the game cos I really like the sound of the name! It apparently means dead and awake... Sooo, yeah, don't Google the meanings of some of my character names because sometimes they might have spoilers just in their names xD
I have to agree that I also prefer the ending where Rue let's go of Akuji and also asks Perry to leave cos I feel like that's the healthiest option for Rue going forward! It's a pretty dark and depressing story really, haha. But then it's supposed to be more psychological horror than romance, and just bleak in general x3
By based on an Inside No.9 script, I mean that it's actually based off of the script for an episode of the anthology TV show called Inside No.9 :3 It's one of those funky shows where every episode is a totally different 30 minute story with a twist of some sort, and one of my favourite TV series. I thought it would be a really fun script to play with because you can change quite a lot without taking away from the original story.
For example, the original script has zero romance. The main character is a dude called Tom, Akuji is his girlfriend (but named Gerri), and Perry is a man called Migg. There's a little bit of friendship building between the main character and Migg, but no romance. I included the script/episode's original ending within the game, but overall, I tweaked a lot of the sorry, added romance, and of course, added Perry's POV and a whole bunch of different branches and endings :3
It's not the only time I've played around with an Inside No.9 episode script. The most elaborate one for it is Limbo Line because I changed and added a hell of a lot while still keeping the original story intact. And Then The Graveyard Shift is the opposite, where I only included a few little tweaks, branches, and alternate endings. Depending on where you are in the world, you might even be able to watch the episodes online for free if you ever wanted to see all the differences, haha. Apartment No.9's episode = Tom and Gerri. Limbo Line's episode = Cold Comfort. And The Graveyard Shift's episode = The Stakeout.
The GxB version is only marginally more popular than this version, like I said earlier, sadly, they're both some of my least viewed/downloaded games >.< But story-wise, there aren't any differences that I can remember :3 The biggest differences are that the GxB version has a much larger CG gallery since it was made for otome jam and more art was created for it. Whereas the BxG version was made outside of a jam. If it hadn't been for my good friend, Lazy Polar Bear, offering to draw up new sprites for this version and that 1 important CG, I probably wouldn't have been able to make this version at all cos I didn't really have suitable sprites for it in my collection of assets, and without that 1 CG, I feel like that scene would really lack impact >.<
That's so cool that you like the vocal song ^-^ it was quite rushed in the end >.< haha, and I was torn on whether to even include it or not since it features my vocals, and I don't really like the sound of my singing x3 Unfortunately, my microphone isn't the best, and I'm also really anxious about my family hearing me record stuff, so anything I do record is usually super quiet >.<
Anyways, thank you so much for taking the time to check this one out as well and write up your thoughts! I really appreciate it ^-^
I love anime really really really great work
Thanks for playing ^-^ I love anime too, but I'm soooo behind on all the stuff I was watching >.< my anime backlog is as bad as my gaming backlog at this point! Both are just huge, haha.
So this game was very good I picked this to be apart of a holiday special and I had a good time playing this game.
the backgrounds & character designs are very well done
the voice acting was very good
the story was good
100% recommend this game to anyone :)
Holy moly, that came in a lot of parts :o Tbh, I never timed a playthrough when I was testing and trying to pick up text errors and stuff, so I never realised the length of it xD
Thanks so much for playing this one too, and I hope you got to have a wonderful holiday season + that your new year is going great so far ^-^
Omg okay so I played this game a while ago, some months actually, and I just happened to come on this game's page because I love your work and am about to play Yandere Haven. I realized you left this comment below "I think the BxG version might be my least downloaded game of all >.<" and I had to respond! I have a bad habit of leaving long reviews lmfao, so I shy away from reviewing because I end up spending hours typing. (I'm a video editor so I try to leave more in depth appreciation for fellow artists >.< It's nice when people notice the minute details and effort you put in to your work.) I had to leave at least SOMETHING for you after reading that.
This is my FAVORITE work by you from what I've played so far. Definitely do nottt think that downloads or anything determines value, it's clear you don't think that completely but yeah honestly I think it just comes down to marketing. Also, at the end of the day, when it comes to VNs, flowery otomes with Japanese-level art will always get the most attention. I do love me some happy-go-lucky otomes; I am like everyone else in that I do spend more time playing the romance otomes, but this definitely was a great game. I love psychological stuff like this just as much, if not more, than romance otomes. (Hell, go darker if you want xD Give me all the angst and effed up characters). Bonus if it's a game like this that contains both some romance and psychological ish. This was one of my top 3 trippy/psychological VNs that I ever played and I've played hundreds of VNs over a span of a decade. You set up the suspense and mystery so well, I remember playing this while pulling an all-nighter because I couldn't stop playing. This was such an amazing game and you put a lot of work into it clearly. Not sure why I see comments criticizing the art but I love the art a lot--yes art is subjective but even objectively, the characters were well-proportioned and consistent throughout. I love the voice acting, love the visual effects/coding, and I love the story you crafted. I've played games of a similar nature that were somewhat confusing or contained plot holes. This was a very concise, well-polished story and, while I haven't played in a while so my memory is fuzzy, I remember that I enjoyed this game extremely and have been keeping an eye out for your work since.
I sincerely hope that you/your team continues to make work, I seriously love stuff like this. I tell every game dev that I compliment that I'm picky with what I like, which sounds paradoxical given the fact that I say it every time, but it's completely true lol! I can't get into a story if it's not crafted well. It's not easy to make such a concise story, and with such a good pay-off at that.
Continue to make the work you're passionate about, even if it doesn't do numbers like the Japanese-style otomes do. Everyone is making games like that, their works are nice to but this is YOUR unique vision. It'd be so boring and oversaturated if only games like that existed. Your art and vision is so important and I cannot stress enough how much I appreciate the work you put in. I actually especially appreciate it because of the whole focus on both suspense and yandere characters. I love internalizing different characters (to the point where I've made my own yandere character), and I love seeing how people internalize and portray these sorts of crazy characters in their art. I love psycho-analyzing them lol. And I love the suspense in this game, the kind that sends shivers down your spine and yet you obsessively can't stop reading. So people like you who create this work are very appreciated.
Despite being long lol, I know this wasn't an in-depth art review. I could go into depth of how dope and clever it is that you used the game's coding itself to plot your story (by that, I mean the fact that the game changes and narrative evolves as you replay it), and how amazing and unique it is to craft a (plot-hole free) narrative around such a mechanism in the first place (trippy too!), but I would be here all day. I don't want to make this review any longer but I just wanted you to know that even if this isn't your most downloaded game, it is VERY appreciated. YOU are appreciated and valued. Your work is appreciated and valued. Please keep doing what you do!
So sorry this is so long xD See omfg I try to make brief reviews and here I am I think like half an hour later...I'm sorry for the rambling on, I feel bad every time but I can't stop myself. But I just needed you to know you're appreciated!
Sorry it's taken an entire month to respond to all the lovely things you said >.< I was just away from my PC and all my project stuff for all of June while I focused on the 30 Days Wild challenge. I did read everything you wrote when I got a chance though, I just wasn't able to actually sit down and say anything back until now x3 I hope you ended up having fun with Yandere Heaven too in the end :D And not much has changed since then because this game still has the lowest number of downloads by far xD I just checked the analytics and it's on 440 total downloads! The next lowest is the ELI version of Love in Lockdown at 1743 total downloads. Yandere Heaven is somehow my most downloaded project at 15.9k total downloads despite being my most recently released game O.O I dunno how that has happened, haha. And poor Limbo Line, which I personally feel is my best project so far is only on 2510 total.
I really appreciate the fact that you took the time to write such a meaty review of this one anyhow :D It means a lot, especially so when it seems to be my most unloved release, haha.
And heck yes, it's great when other people notice the small details and stuff in a project! I tend to spend probably too much time obsessing over tiny details, but they make me happy, so meh x3
I hope this one managed to stay your favourite after you checked out YH, haha. As much fun as I had making YH, I put a hell of a lot more time and effort into A9. To the point that by the end of the jam, I felt like I bloomin lived in that damn apartment with everyone xD
Psychological stuff is very much my jam, haha. I used to play a lot of the romance otomes myself, but over time, I started to feel like they were becoming a bit hollow to me. Same sorts of stories, same sorts of characters, same sorts of romance >.< And I just wound up a bit disillusioned with them. It's annoying because I love me some cute romance in the middle of a story, but I do prefer it to be somewhere in between what a lot of otome games offer and what you get in something like Mass Effect. With Bioware games, I'm always left wanting a little more romance than you get, but with otomes, I end up wanting a little less romance and a bit more attention to overall story x3 I probably sound so picky T_T haha.
I feel honoured that you'd give such high praise! I mean, I can't take 100% credit for the story idea since it was heavily inspired stuff, but I tried my best to do the original idea justice while adding plenty of my own original ideas and such in there to create something else.
I'm glad you like the art as well. This version of the game wouldn't have even been possible without the help of my good friend who created the art for it because I didn't have any assets that would work. I'm a huuuuge fan of her art style :3 She puts so much emotion and small details into her drawings. I still can't belive the sheer level of incredible art she managed to creat for Limbo Line, and again, that project wouldn't have been possible if not for her, so I owe her a lot :3
That's a relief to hear that you didn't come across any plot holes because that's something which is always in the back of my mind, haha. While I do write a very rough sort of outline for most of my stuff, 75% of the finished script comes from pantsing xD Which I feel always leaves it all rather vulnerable to plot holes! I do my best to try and fix anything I find, but sometimes it's easy to miss stuff when you're looking at the same text for so long >.<
I've always had a soft spot for the more messed-up sorts of characters that you come across both in fiction and in reality. Though, in reality, it's more of a morbid curiosity I guess. When I was a kid, my parents got me a book on serial killers as a birthday present cos they knew how much I loved watching documentaries on them xD And I remember watching Disney films as a child and always being fascinated by the villains, wanting to know more about why they wound up the way they did and stuff. So yeah, it's a lot of fun to create and explore characters that have a darker side :3 I'm so glad I came across visual novels, because before then, I didn't even know what a yandere was. They quickly became my favourite sort of character type alongside yangires, haha.
I remember playing a game a few years ago where the story changed upon replaying it, and it absolutely blew my mind x3 so I thought to myself, I've really gotta try my hand at that sometime! It was a bit of a nightmare to execute when my coding skills are practically nonexistent. Though, I finally know now how to fix the title screen for accessing different menu options and such, I just haven't updated the game with a fix because it would take so long to export and upload it again for something so small >.< I'm really hoping it's something I can implement in some of my other projects too, because as you say, it's pretty trippy, and it's something that makes me smile whenever I come across it as a player.
Please don't apologise anyhow x3 Like I said, I really appreciate the fact that you took the time to write everything that you did :3 As nice as it is to make the sorts of things you enjoy making and see them come to life, it's equally nice, if not more so, to get any sort of feedback from folks who have taken the time to play through something I've put out there. Reading what you wrote made me smile. It really does mean a lot ^-^ So yeah, thanks again for everything!
WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE LEAVING SUCH LONG REVIEWS
wow i need a reviewer like you for my games
Wait this game is actually good wtf
Don't let the fact that the thumbnail looks worse than Darling Duality, and the art is in game is a little bit worse, the game has a pretty good story and the love interests are both very cute, interesting and well written, the homeless girl concept might sound bad to some but it wasn't bad imo, things will all make sense after you play the game, everyone except MC is voiced, the game is also kinda horny in some scenes, you should give it a try.
Glad you decided to give it a chance :3 And even more awesome that you ended up enjoying it. Sadly, it's my joint least downloaded game (think it only had around 300 downloads last time I checked) >.< Probably doesn't help that I released it as part of sunofes jam, which isn't really a jam people keep an eye on for new projects as far as I'm aware since it's more about just finishing stuff you've started.
It wouldn't have been possible without the help of my good friend who created all the awesome art for the game (sprites and CG) because the original otome version of the game also had custom sprites and CGs for otome jam that I couldn't possibly have genderbent with my own awful art skills >.< So I owe her a lot for being so awesome and helping me out :3
Thanks for playing :D
I’ve Started the No.9 Vn and……I can’t even find the words for how mind fucking is it so far,the endings I’ve gotten so far was the three good ones*Well I guess if the one where you cheat and be nice to P counts as a happy ending,Because me it does because she was nice & caring in my eyes,But ik it’s wrong to cheat on Your Girl but hey, sacrifices must be made sometimes*(Ik I’m horrible )& that one bad apple ending with Poor P ;(
The sound effects of how Perry was out infront of the door was crispy asf,The Clicking Of Footsteps going down the stairs was perfect as well,The Kissing felt to real like I was getting smooches though my headset,Just pretty much every damn thing was just simulating like I was actually there.(Which made it even more exciting to play)
The Bloopers Of Perry Had My Chest Bleeding inside from the Constant laughing,That Damn motorcycle I tell Ya,Aku Giggling over the kissing sounds was adorable tbhs😂,Fleur Had a lil tongue twister which was funny to hear”Now If the other vn’s that you’ll be working soon get bloopers as well than that would be so damn good tbhs,just to hear them fuck up, laugh about and have a great time about it at the end of their day
It even has interviews,Well 2 out of the 4,F interview At the beginning had me rolling tho,she can definitely act the part as well as the other va’s ofc,I’m not gonna pick a favorite,they’re all really amazing to me ofc,The team that you have/had for this vn especially did a damn fine job with everything within this vn,well not just this one,as well as the other two that I’ve mentioned before,It’s to a point that I can’t even pick which one I like the most because it’s the same feeling for all three of them by far,might become a 4 whenever I finish No.9 and Start Limbo but i could keep going on and on about how much I’ve enjoyed No.9 So Far but I gotta go see the rest of the endings now. Ciao ^ ͜• ^
Got All Of The Endings & Lemme Tell you That “All Falls Down” One Gave Me Goosebumps fr for how she was talking to the user
Hehe, that was my favourite ending to write and put together :P Congrats on all the endings :D And thanks so much for playing it all the way through and taking the time to drop a comment :3
Woooo! Awesome stuff :3 I think the BxG version might be my least downloaded game of all >.< I try not to check analytics on itch too often cos it's just like kinda setting yourself up for disappointment when you look and see you released something you're super proud of but hardly anyone plays it, haha. I think last time I did look though, it was under 300 downloads! So I appreciate you giving it some love :D
Psychological stuff is my absolute favourite genre when it comes to books, games, films, anything really x3 so hearing you describe it as mind fucking makes me want to punch the air with victory cos I always wonder if the psychological stuff I try to write actually works, haha.
I'm also a huuuuge nerd for sound design, so I have a hell of a lot of fun trying to bring scenes to life with detailed sounds ^-^ When I first discovered how to make characters sound like they were behind a wall/door, or on the phone, I basically got so excited I lost my shit xD
I do love me some bloopers as well, haha. Ever since I started making games, I've always asked the Vas to save their bloopers if they don't mind me putting them in a blooper reel :D Hearing that sorta thing always makes me laugh out loud when I'm in the middle of editing their audio. From what I remember, Jacob had some epic bloopers in Solipsism Reigns playing villains. Some of the stuff he came out with used to make me cry with tears of laughter x3 but if it's female yanderes you're into, you probably wouldn't wanna play through SR just for bloopers cos I only have the otome version out so far >.< I'll get the BxG version done someday, it's just it's much longer than my other games, so it's something that's gonna take a hell of a lot of time to do.
Yeah, I'm super lucky to have had the opportunity to work with such amazing people on the project ^-^ I wouldn't have been able to do it at all if LPB hadn't offered to help me out with sprites and Cgs, and it definitely wouldn't be the same without the voice acting.
I'm just super happy you've been having fun cos I had an absolute blast making it the same as I did with all my projects (well, apart from Love in Lockdown which I still hate to this day xD) and it's just nice to know when someone else has had as much fun playing as I had making ^-^
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VERY GOOD VN DEV